Prehistory and Native Americans

Manahoac Indians

The Manahoacs were Siouan speaking Indians who originated in the Ohio Valley. They occupied the area in Stafford above the Rappahannock fall-line to the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is thought they numbered only 1,500. These were the Indians Captain John Smith encountered during his trip up the Rappahannock River in 1608. Smith spent the night on Belmont Hill with this tribe. (The exhibit shows a wide variety of projectile points that were used with throwing sticks (atalatls), spears, and arrows.) Blaisdell Collection, Stafford County Historical Society – SCHS